Moving to Canada- Questions

julie051 · 05-31-2008, 04:20 PM

Hello all!
My hubby just got a job in Ottawa, so we will be moving there at the end of the summer from the U.S. We would like to start fertility treatments as soon as we get there, but I have no idea how the health insurance works there. Does anyone know if there is usually a wait to be seen at a fertility clinic? Do you first need a referral? I think I would respond well to clomid (that's what my previous doctor said) and my HSG was fine.

I am most worried about the wait to start treatments as I have been reading that there can be a long wait to see specialists. We have been trying for 5 years with no treatments, and we are finally ready to try medications besides Metformin.

Also, we are deciding on whether to live in Gatineau or Ottawa. I know these are in different provinces and sometimes the infertility benefits are different. Anyone know which one, if either, is better?

Thank you so much in advance if anyone has any info. I am nervous about the whole thing.
Julie

Fyre · 05-31-2008, 07:10 PM

I'm from Alberta, so I'm not much use but we have Alberta Health Care here which we pay into and that allows us to go to the doctor or specialists, get different surgeries without paying. I know that waits to see different specialists are different amounts of time. If I were you, I would get in touch with the province of Ontario (i'll bet they have a website) and start seeking health care sources. Because you're probably not a Canadian citizen there are probably some different hurdles you might have to deal with compared with average joe blough Canadian who's just moving to a different province.

Any regular Canadian citizen would just go to their family doctor and get referred to an ob/gyn or endocrinologist or any other specialist.

Gatineau is in Quebec and Quebec is primarily french-speaking. Now I'm not 100% sure if Gatineau caters well to the English-only speakers so if your french isn't super, you may want to look more toward Ottawa

Fyre · 05-31-2008, 07:23 PM

Took a little look for you.

Unfortunately, I'm too new to be able to post a link or private message anyone (frustrating!)

If you go to google and search 'government of ontario' you will find ontario's official website and it should start with 'www' and end in '.gov.on.ca'

Once there, go to the "Services" tab at the top of the page and select "Health and Long-Term Care" from the side menu. Hopefully there are some answers or resources for contacts there for you

Eirenay · 05-31-2008, 11:20 PM

In Ontario, we are under the OHIP (Ontario Health Insurance Plan). You will have a three month wait before you can be eligible for OHIP. OHIP covers doctors appointments, hospital visits, bloodwork, diagnostic tests. It does not cover prescriptions, eye appointments (most of the time), or some aspects of fertility treatments (ie IUI insemination).
If you have health coverage through your job, it could cover prescriptions and possibly some fertility treatments (my DH's coverage covers fertility meds up to a 5000 lifetime max).
If you do not have a family doctor (which there is a shortage right now) you will have access to walk-in clinics. You will need a referral to an ob/gyn, who will then refer you to the fertility clinic. If you think you're going to just do clomid, the ob/gyn may not have to refer you up. (I did clomid with the gyn and when it didn't work he then referred me up). There is a fantastic fertility clinic in Ottawa, one of our Ottawa cysters would be able to give you more information.

Ottawa is very expensive to live in so you will probably want to look to live in one of the surrounding communities.

Gatineau is in Quebec and they have their own health plan (each province has their own). Like pp said, if you are going to live in Quebec you will need to be fluent in French, while most speak english, there is an interesting attitude that occurs if they know that you are anglo and can't speak french, they will only speak french to you. I have learned this from experience. Luckily, I am fully bilingual, so I didn't run into too much trouble when I lived in Trois-Rivieres, but I saw it happen time and time again to my friends.

Welcome to Canada!

BeetleGirl · 06-01-2008, 02:02 AM

You can read about the Ontario Health Insurance plan on their website. Like the pp says there is a three month probationary period before benefits will take effect and that is assuming you meet their qualifications.

As well with the Quebec plan there is a 3 month wait before benefits are instated.
You can read more about their plan on this site
Again, the availability of benefits is benefits depends on you meeting their qualifications.

If by chance you do not meet the qualifications to be covered under the provincial health plan, you can get health insurance through Blue Cross or other insurance companies. Most provinces also have deductables, so you may want to look into which province is more feesible. Canadians living within Canada, trying to get health insurance is normally easier than moving from other countries, so expect a hassle, and make sure you do everything they ask. I have seen people have delays with their healthcare insurance because not all their documents from other sectors of the government have not been completed as they should be, or quickly as they should be.

Both provinces have their pros and cons. McGill University offers IVM which is one of the top clinics in the world to perfect this infertility treatment, and yet Ontario, has funding for when someone over stimulates on an Injectable/iui cycle. This can be helpful because it pays for majority of an IVF cycle should you wish to convert from the iui cycle.

If you have the opportunity to come up and spend a few days here, prior to moving, it may give you a better idea to where you want to live. Just because someone likes an area, doesn't mean it's right for you and vice versa.

Good luck with the move.

lizcharles · 06-01-2008, 01:59 PM

hey, i cant be any help on the fertility front but i live in ottawa. i wouldnt live in gatineau unless you speak french. its not that people dont speak english, its just some can be pretty rude to the anglos. and all the signs and stuff are in french so its pretty confusing. stick to ottawa, its much nicer.

disneybaby · 06-11-2008, 10:59 PM

I would like to add in that if you are able to work, do so. In Canada we receive 1 year of maternity leave with 55% of our pay. And some companies will top up that percentage.

blueoceanflower · 06-13-2008, 11:16 PM

I am in Ottawa and am getting treatment at The Ottawa Fertility Centre
www.conceive.ca
They have a great website, check it out...
I needed a referal from my GP, but you may want to give them a call to see what the policy is for relocated our out of country patients...
The lead time to get an appointment was apox 4-8 weeks from the time of my referal.

It's a wonderful clinic.
Good Luck!!

MsOpinionated · 07-23-2008, 09:30 PM

Hi Julie:

I think you will enjoy Ottawa, very nice city to live. I travel there about 4-5 times a year. As many previous posters have stated Gatineau is in Quebec, but it's very English friendly as many Federal Government offices are located there and there is a large population of English speaking people there.

You may want to look on the outskirts of the city for a home, as the prices in Ottawa proper are high. My brother and his family live in Kemptville which is about a 30-40 min commute into the city by car.

As for health care coverage, there is a waiting period of atleast 3 months, might be longer. As far as I know, OHIP (Ontario Health Insurance Program) does NOT cover fertility treatments, it might cover some of the medical visits, but not the injections, or the procedures. If your husband's company offers health benefits with what are called Extended Health Benefits, fertility treatments might be covered under that heading, for a set amount.

HTH,

Cynthia

I am most worried about the wait to start treatments as I have been reading that there can be a long wait to see specialists. We have been trying for 5 years with no treatments, and we are finally ready to try medications besides Metformin.

Also, we are deciding on whether to live in Gatineau or Ottawa. I know these are in different provinces and sometimes the infertility benefits are different. Anyone know which one, if either, is better?

Thank you so much in advance if anyone has any info. I am nervous about the whole thing.
Julie[/quote]

marivel81 · 08-28-2008, 12:37 PM

Hi Julie,
I just moved to Montreal from Texas. Before we moved I talked to my doctor and she prescribed me 3 months of meds, so that I would still have some and not worry about going to long off of them.as far as moving, I would highly recommend Ottowa (the roads in Ontario are much better, and you won't have to worry about the language barrier.)
Good Luck.
Cheers!
Mari